Parachute and like flare



march 4, 194W. C, D, SCHERMULY ET AL 2,416,957

PARAHUTE AND LIKE FLRE Fil'ed June 2, 1944 iff@ Patented Mar. 4, 1947 l'i'E STTES OFFICE PARACHUTE AND LIKE FLARE Application .l une 2, 1944, Serial N0. 538,505 in Great Britain December 17, 1942 (o1. 1oz-35) 6 Claims.

In the specification of our Patent No. 2,469,905 we have described a parachute-supported flare candle having hinged to the top thereof a number of ribs, each of which has hinged thereto a rib which extends beyond the top of the candle and is secured to a plate slidable on an extension secured to the candle case, the ribs being covered with opaque material, se that when the flare is released, the snatch caused by the parachute opening moves the said ribs to a position inclined to the flare case and the covering thereon provides an effective screen.

Hitherto diiculty has been experienced in providing a screen which will remain open in the desired position because, owing to wind pressure, there has been a tendency for the screen to turn inside out. t is therefore the principal object of the present invention to provide an eiective screen which will prevent upward glare from the iiare and which will remain open in the desired position.

According to the present invention, the are candle, together with the screen and its operating mechanism, is enclosed in a casing so arranged that the said casing falls apart at a predetermined time and allows the screen to operate.

A convenient form of the invention, given by way of example, will now be described with reierence to the accompanying drawing in which Figure l shows the casing in section with the flare packed therein, some ribs of the screen and the opaque material attached thereto being omitted; Figure 2 shows the iiare after the casing has been removed; and Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to Fig. 1 and showing a modified construction.

Referring to the drawing the casing l is of cylindrical shape and is divided axially and hinged at 2 at the bottom. Within the casing l there is packed a ilare candle 3 having secured to the top an extension 4 provided with an axial slot 5. A pin S is provided in the slot li and on the pin 6 is supported a plate 'l which is preferably of greater diameter than the fia-re candle 3. The pin 6 is arranged to slide up and down in the slot and at the same time allow the plate l to slide up and down with it.

Hinged to the top of the flare candle 3 are a number of ribs 8 covered with opaque material 9 to form a screen and hinged intermediate the ends of each of the ribs 8 is a rib lll also covered with opaque material which extends beyond the top of the are candle 3 and is hinged to the periphery of the plate 7. The latter covering is arranged to form louvres over the main screen. The parachute cords H which lead to the parachute (not shown) supporting the flare are secured in any convenient manner to the pin 6 which slides in the slot 5.

When the complete device is packed in the divided casing l the plate 1 is pressed onto the top of the flare candle 3 and a lid l2 is placed over the open ends of the two halves of the casing i thereby holding them together as shown in Figure 1. As soon as the parachute opens a snatch will occur between the plate l and the parachute with the result that the plate 'l will be forced upwardly by the pin 6 sliding in the slot 5. In moving upwardly the plate l will remove the lid l2 from the casing l and allow it to open as shown in broken lines in Figure 1. As soon as this occurs the casing l will fall away from the device and allow the ribs 3 and Iii to open into the position shown in Figure 2.

If desired the lid l2 may be attached directly to the parachute cords II by cords ila so that when the snatch occurs the cords il and lia will pull the lid l2 from the casing l.

By constructing the device in the said manner it will be seen that the flare and its screen become supported by the parachute before the screen is opened with the result that the strain is all` taken by the parachute and none by the screen thereby preventing the screen from turning inside out.

We claim:

1. In combination, a are candle, a screen secured to and surrounding said flare candle, a separable container enclosing said iiare candle Y and screen, a lid over the upper end of said container to maintain the same closed, a parachute connected to said candle and means connected to said parachute for raising said lid when said parachute opens to allow said separable container to fall away' and for opening said screen when said lid is raised.

2. A combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein said separable container is divided from top to bottom into two halves which are hinged together at the bottom.

3. In combination, a flare candle, a screen secured to and surrounding said liare candle, a slotted extension secured to the top of said flare candle, a pin adapted to slide vertically in said slot, a parachute secured to said pin, a separable container enclosing said are candle and screen and arranged to open and fall away when unrestrained, a plate arranged over said pin to be raised vertically by said pin, means connecting said plate with said screen so that the screen is opened as said plate is raised by said pin, a lid holding said separable container closed and arranged over said plate to be raised thereby from said container to allow said container to open and fall away, whereby when said parachute opens, the snatch of the same raises said pin whereby said lid is removed, the separable container falls away and the screen is opened.

4. A combination as claimed in claim 3 wherein the means connecting said plate with said screen comprises a plurality of ribs each secured at its upper end to said plate and at its lower end to said screen at a point intermediate the top and bottom of the same.

5. A combination as claimed in claim 3 wherein the means connecting said plate with said screen comprises a plurality of ribs each secured at its upper end to said plate and at its lower end to said screen at a point intermediate the top and bottom of the screen and a second screen surrounding said ribs and secured thereto.

6. A combination as claimed in claim 3 wherein said separable container is divided from top to bottom into two parts which are hinged at the bottom.

CONRAD DAVID SCHERMULY. ALFRED JAMES SCHERMULY. CHARLES SCHERMULY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,346,454 Holt July 13, 1920 1,754,134 Wiley Apr. 8, 1930 2,166,154 Huff July 18, 1939 1,964,016 Wiley June 26, 1934 1,571,617 Bassett Feb. 2, 1926 

